John w



Nirnn STATES ATENT Fricn.

- JOHN W'. RAPP, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

D ooR.

SPECIFICATION forming part'of Letters Patent No. 557,148, dated March 31, 1896. Application tiled June 6, 1895. Serial No. 551,922. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN WV. RAPP, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Doors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is especially adapted to be used in connection with doors which are subjected to hard usage or exposed to high temperatures, which would tend to injure or destroy the ordinary form of wooden door; but it may also with advantage be employed in other instances where the same or similar conditions exist.

I will iirst describe a door embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features in the claims.

The drawings represent such a door, of which Figure 1 is a front view, and Fig. 2 an enlarged cross-sectional view on the line :c of Fig. 1.

The door consists of an interior body portion or framework A,covered with sheet metal, the material and mode of construction of the body portion not being essential. The body in the drawings is shown as made up of two upright pieces joined together by horizontal tie-pieces, spaced so as to leave openings a adapted to receive panels. The edges of the body of the door are in the form of recesses a', into which the sheet metal extends, as will hereinafter be described. These recesses are shown in the drawings as being V-shaped, but this is not essential.

B is a continuous sheet of metal covering the front of the body A and bent around at its outer edges, as shown at b', Fig. 2, so as to extend into the V-shaped recesses a and to approximately cover one side of the same. The metal sheet B is provided with openings h, arranged to coincide with the openings ce, and is bent into projections h2, so as to fit over the edges of the openings ct. It will thus be seen that the sheet of metal B will be held securely in place upon the surface of the door without attaching it thereto by means of nails or screws, although such mode of fastening may also be employed. Another sheet O of metal covers the back of the door and is shaped similarly at c and c2 to the sheet B, so as to iit into the opposite sides of the V- shaped recesses a and the openings a. The

edges of the door are made square by means of four strips Efone for each edge, preferably covered with metal sheathing e and iitting closely into the V-shaped recesses a', as shown in Fig. 2. These strips, as shown, are secured by nails properly spaced throughout their length and penetrating the body A at the vertex of the V-shaped recesses a; butother suitable methods of attachment may be adopted.

In order to panel the openings a, the following construction (shown in the drawings) may with advantage be employed: Tongues c2 attached tothe bodyA of the door and eX- tending between the projections bland c2 project into the openings a and serve as supports for metal plates D, which Iit closely in the openings, there being two plates fitted into each opening a, one from each side of the door. The plates D may be formed seas to represent a flat panel surrounded by molding-strips CZ, as here represented, or may be of any suitable pattern. Nails cl2 are shown as passing through the molding-strips d into the body A of the door to hold the panels in place; but other suitable modes of attachment may be used. These nails cl2 may with advantage pass through the projections h2 and c2 of the metal plates B and C, and thus more effectually secure the same in place. A

hollow stud cl3, through which passes a rivet, is shown as interposed between the -plates D of Fig.- 2 in order to strengthen them sufficiently to allow of the use of thin material in their construction.

A door constructed as above described will resemble in some respects an ordinary door, but will be much strengthened by the metallic covering, and will, among other advantages, resist high temperatures and severe usage. It will be evident from the foregoing that no seams will be visible on the door.

Afacing or veneering F of paper, wood, or other desirable material may be applied to the face of the d oor.

Having now described an article embodying my invention, and without limiting myself to this special application or construction of the same, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Lette/rs Patent, is-

1. A door comprising an interior framework or body portion, a facing or sheathing IOO of sheet metal applied to the surfaces of the interior framework and provided with openings corresponding to the door-panels and independent panellike pieces fitting into and secured in said openings, substantially as specified.

2. A door comprising an interior framework or body portion provided with recessed edges, a facing or sheathing of sheet metal applied to the surfaces of the interior framework and provided with flanges extending into said recesses, the facing or sheathing having openings corresponding to the doorpanels, strips'tting into and conforming to said recesses, and independent panel-like pieces secnred in the openings in the facing or sheathing, substantially as specified. 

